She only allowed herself to wallow in self pity for a few minutes. Then she took her bag to the bathroom and set about repairing the tear damage. She had a bigger fish to fry. Chris Lyons wasn’t going to squirm his way out of this one. Although it was relatively late for office hours, she knew he made it a habit of working late. Or at least he stayed in his office. She wasn’t sure his wife would consider what he did was working.

She made her way by cab to the Lyons office. At one point Chris’s father and her father had been friends. But Mr. Lyons senior was nothing like his son. He’d been a gentlemen but had died shortly before Zoe’s dad.

Putting her shoulders back, she walked into his office past his long suffering secretary and straight through the closed door. He was sitting on the couch, a young woman taking notes by his side. He jumped up as soon as he saw her.

“Zoe Clark, while it is a pleasure to see you, this meeting is private.”

‘Leave,” Zoe said to the young girl who possibly sensing her anger left without looking back. Zoe turned her full attention on Chris Lyons having the satisfaction of seeing him go pale before he got a hold of himself.

“Zoe, what is the meaning of this?”

“You are a bully and a thief. How dare you manipulate Jim Richardson and try to put me out of business.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” He picked up his phone.

“I hope that’s your lawyer as you will need him. I have turned over all the evidence to the police. You are looking at multiple charges.”

“If you have evidence, why are you here and not the police? I think you are bluffing, Zoe.” He took a step toward her and another but she just stared at him. He wasn’t going to intimidate her.

“I don’t have to bluff. The truth is on my side. I am here as I want to know what Declan Malone has to do with all of this.”

‘That’s none of your business.”

“I think you will find it is. He is a personal friend and his lawyers are the best in the business. I have reason to believe you have been telling people he is an investor in your business. Is that the truth?”

“I don’t have to answer your questions.”

“You just did.” She took a step toward him and was right up to his face. “You picked the wrong woman as an enemy Chris.”

“You don’t scare me Zoe Clark. You are nothing but a dried up two bit mechanic. You will be sorry you ever messed with me.”

“Tell that to the cell walls, Chris.”

With that she turned and strode out of the office, her head held high. She didn’t look at his secretary but could feel her eyes on her. She kept walking until she had left the building behind her. Then she let her breath out.

“Is he dead?”

The familiar voice made her jump.

“Declan, what are you doing here?”

“I know you wanted to handle this yourself but I thought I could be here for you when you were done.”

“So you followed me?”

“Not really. I rang Mr. Epstein and he told me of your plans. When I got to the garage and you had already left, I figured you would go here. I thought I would wait a while before calling you on your cell. I didn’t want to interrupt your moment.”

“Oh.” She was grateful to see him but didn’t want to come across as being weak.

“So what happens next?”

“With?” she couldn’t think straight. All this time she thought she was alone dealing with her problems, he had been at her side.

“With Mr. Lyons. Have you called the police?”

‘Yes but they won’t do anything until they have taken Jim’s statement.”

“Let’s see about that,” Conor replied, a determined look on his face. He picked up his cell and rang the police making a complaint about the fact that Chris Lyons had been using his name to entice people to sign over their homes.

“That should stir them up a bit,” he said smiling as he turned off his cell.

“Yes it should.” She turned to walk toward the beach.

“Zoe, are you angry with me?”

“No. Not with you. I just can’t bear to see Cloudy Bay destroyed.”

“I wanted to speak to you about that. It’s true I want to diversify my investments and I love what Conor did with Flower Meadows. So I wondered if we could do something similar here in Cloudy Bay. Kathy said there was a waiting list of people wanting to move into Flower Meadows? We could build a new retirement village and let it out to people like Mr. Epstein. In fact, assuming you agreed, we could ask him to manage it. I think he would enjoy that. I get the impression being retired doesn’t suit him.”

“No, it doesn’t. He took early retirement to be with his wife when she was ill but now he has way too much time on his hands.” Zoe scrutinized Declan’s face. “How will this make you money? Won’t it be expensive?”

“Sure but it will make a profit. Conor doesn’t get excited about investments unless they do. And it’s a way of giving back to the community.”

“And it will keep predators like Chris Lyons and his followers away.”

“It should. After the cops are finished with him, I don’t think investments will be the topic of interest for Chris or Jim.”

She closed her eyes. What Jim had said about her dad still hurt. More than anything else. “Yeah Jim.”

He put his arm around her and drew her close.

“Zoe, regardless of what is happening between us, I would like to think we are friends. Friends care about each other and help shoulder burdens. Don’t push me away. You shouldn’t go through this alone.”

“Thank you for coming here Declan. It means a lot that you did that.”

He grinned at her before kissing her on the forehead. She wanted him to kiss her properly but it wouldn’t be fair to initiate that when she was still confused about their future.

“I think it would be a good time to take a break away. I don’t think you want to be here when the news breaks do you?”

“No. One disadvantage of a small town is everyone knows your business. They will all see what a fool I was. How stupid Zoe got in trouble over math again.”

“I told you never to call yourself stupid again. You are kind and trusting. People you had known for years took advantage of you. That is nothing to be ashamed of.” He looked into her eyes as if trying to make his thoughts hers. “So will you come to Ireland? Please?”

She found herself saying yes although her head was filled with the same doubts as before. Only now she was an unemployed mechanic without a business.